Our Family: Last Quarter

I realize that it has been three months since I last updated the blog. Time has flown. So many days I want to sit down and write (I have so much more to say than I'm saying) and update but I honestly don't know where my time goes...to puzzles that are too hard (a 1500 piece starry starry night), to procrastination playing soduko on my phone? Sometimes, honestly, yes. But also time is going to those I love, trying to be present with them in the here and now watching tournaments, talking on the phone, trying to make them a cake for their birthday or their favorite candies for Christmas or making regional wrestling bags and state sweatshirts, etc, etc, etc. I finally am catching up a little. I hope to have more catching up in two weeks when wrestling is over and more time to reflect.

A lot has happened these last few months. People I know have had tragic events in their lives. Deaths and severe injuries that change things forever. It makes me pause and think how grateful I am to be alive, even when things are hard, and to be with people I love, even when things are hard. Life is short...there is no time to not appreciate all things. It changes perspective so much when you realize that life is short and that the person you see here today may not be the person you see here tomorrow. It doesn't matter whether a real death occurs or just a tragic event, grief runs deep and changes things forever. We all feel loss. I recently had a friend who has a daughter that had a severe brain injury 3-4 years ago. Her daughter is doing great. She is alive and improving day by day. My friend is grateful for her progress and for having her daughter with her. She made an interesting point to me though when we were together recently. She pointed out to me that even though she still has her daughter with her and is so grateful for her recovery, she still grieves the daughter that was and the daughter she would have become. We all have griefs, hidden, like this that we still feel. Again, this makes me want to enjoy those I have near to me even more. Even in the difficulties. I understand my friend's grief at the loss of what would/could have been.

What have we been up to? We had Thanksgiving and Christmas. I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked to during those times but I do have some. Kenzie and Ben came home for Thanksgiving and Kenzie, Ben, Jordan and Molly all came home for Christmas. It was so much fun to have a full house again. Here are the few pictures captured over those holidays.

I know, not very many. Here are a few more.

What are they doing in the picture above? Building a sauna in our yard. Brad always has a project going for the kids.

What else did we do over Christmas break? We found some great recipes and cooked. I will include those here. Thanks goes to Kenzie for forcing me to make treats. (It is difficult to want to when you have to watch everything you eat.) I'm putting my two new favorite recipes here.

We (or should I say my kids and husband surprised me with this) also got a new puppy. Meet Violet.

That last one (if you get the reference) is called the creation of Violet. Violet looks a lot like Blue but has some Kelpie in her so she is faster and a little smaller. She also is SOOOOO hyper right now. Can't wait until she settles down a little with age.

We've been getting lots of snow and then having our snow melt (we've had a pretty warm winter). It is like this winter can just be called one big muddy season. The mud isn't pretty so I will include here some pretty views of sunsets and sunrises that I saw while it was the muddy season.

And before I get to the final two happenings from this post let me post a few things in my miscellaneous category.

It is good to see my kids are lifelong friends of each other and also have lifelong friends. Here is Kenzie, Ben and Anna skiing together. A picture that Anna sent me.

Speaking of good lifelong friends, here are two of the most influential people in my life who are lifelong friends. My young woman's leader, Sister Anderson and my seminary teacher Brother Thompson. These are salt of the earth people and I love them.

I love this from Andrew Huberman. I am trying to use it daily.

Ben sent me this great video of my boys wrestling together on the lawn years ago. It brought back so many memories. It's crazy that they were that small just 4 or 5 years ago. Now I feel so small next to all of them.

And since those pictures were of wrestling...know that we have been spending a LOT of time at wrestling tournaments and duals lately. We did have a rough start. Riley got dq'd from one of his matches by kneeing a kid in the face (unacceptable, but really important to understand the why of how it happened). Once we got over that (and some knee problems and cauliflower ear) things have mostly gone smoothly. Riley is a force to be reckoned with on the mat and Jake is still young on the mat but improves every week, has exciting matches and surprises us a lot. It has been a good season. Here in the next few weeks we have regionals and state.